Improvement in enamelling- iron and steel



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BENJAMIN moon; or OHADWIOK, NEAR BRONSGROVE, ENGLAND.

Iletters Patent No. 98, 33fi, dated December 28, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT m murmur-me IRON AND-STEEL.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and makingpan of the, lame.

'1, Bsmmm 'BAUGH, of-Obadwick, near Brons grove, in the county of Worcester, England, have invented a new and improved Method of Enamelling the Snrfaces'ofGast or Wrought-Iron, or Steel, to pro-- ,duce letters, devices, or ornamentation thereon, of

which the following is a full and exact description.

- -I n the processes heretofore employed for this purpose, t-he ordinary method consists in, first, covering the surface of the metal plate with a coat. of enamel,

which is fused thereomand subsequently applying, by.

means of a stencil-plate, adhesive size or mucilage to those parts which are to receive another color, the enamel being then dusted upon those portions in the form of powder,-which adheres to the size, and is sub-- sequently fusedthereon.

Serious disadvantages belong to this method; among them that the edges or boundaries of the figures are .left rough and irregular; that fine lines cannotprodnced, and that the powder has to be applied of such thickness, in order to obscure the color beneath it, asto produce an elevated anduneven surface, which 1 feels; and

It consists, first, in an improved method'of applying the enamel ground, to produce a delicate or; complimted design in such a-manner as to preserve a clear and distinct ontline','and produce fine lines and delictte tracery,'all with easy and lapidity of execuliin; and secondly, in the method of producing a design in.

several colors, bya transfer of the same, at one operation, all as hereinafter set forth.

' In carrying my invention into practice, I proceed as follows:

I first lay upon the surface of the plate of the metal can; enamelled a uniform ground, of any color required to produce the intended design,as, for instance, a nameplate-{or tablet, with the ground white and the inscription in blue. The white ground, having been fused on in the melting-furnace and allowed to cool,

there is then applied with a brush evenlyover the whole surface a coating of blue enamel, the materials of which are finely levigated and' mixed with guin-arabio and water, or other mncilage, to form a paste of slightly adherent properties.

When dry, a stencil of the inscription, or of each letter separately, is laid on, and the enamel paste is removed'fi-om the parts which are unprotected by the stencil, by the application of a stifi' brush, leaving the ground clean, except the letters.

The plate is then again'subjectedjo heat, whereby the paste, which is fusible at lower temperature than the ground previously laid, becomes permanently fixed upon it,

By this process, the letters are left with their boundaries or outlines sharp and well defined, instead of rough and irregular, as by the old process. The mechanical removal, by means of a brush, enables very delicate lines to be formed through the paste, to ex:

pose the enamel ground, and admits of the useof ornaments having sharp angles and minute points and details to be distinctly and. perfectly rendered, which is impossible by any other known method, and this adapts it to be used for any arabesque or mosaic pattern, however complicated'it' may be in design.

It'is obvious that the ground may be dark, and of any color, as well as of the kind described, and the'sub sequent coat of a-lig-tercolor; as, for instance, the

ground may be of blue, andthe inscription white, and

. a succession of colors may be given, to "produce a my rionsly-colored design, by the same method.

Itis also obvious that the inscription or dsignmay be out. out in the stencil, and the ground thereby exposed be removed by the brush, instead of the sur rounding parts, with a like efiect, it being left to the choice of the designer whether thisaprocess be followed, or that previously described.

I employ stencils formed of very thin sheet-metal, (or even of paper, where they requiretobe' used buta few times) which, by their flexibility, lie more closely in contact with the surface, and leave the lines and margins of the figures more perfect, while they conform to convex and irregular surfaces, whereas, by the process heretofore employed, very thick plates have been necessary, which are adapted-to use upon plane surfaces only, and are produced only at great expense.

I combine with the method described, the use of artist'ic graphic representations, such as views, portraits; or groups, thereby, producing metal tablets decorated in enamel, in a manneradapted t0 architectural purposes, as the finishing of interiors, panels for cabinetwork, etc. Such-designs are produced upon stone in the usual lithographic manner, and printed in successive iinpressions upon paper prepared 'for transferring, by having its surface coated with gum-arable, or other substance that is soluble inwater, mineral .colors'and fluxes being used, which are adapted to fuse under heat, and combine to form the picture in enamel, of appropriate colors.

The enamel ground having been fused on, as pr e vionsly-dcscribed, for stencilling, it is covered with copal or other suitable varnish, and the face of the pre pared picture is laid upon it and pressed, to insure oat-ac adhesion of all parts, when the paper is removed by' wetting, as is ordinarily done in transferring prints.

The plateis then subjected to heat until the colors of the picture are (fused, and become incorporated with the previously-enamelled surface.

By this simple method, I produce elaborate pictorial and ornainental' designs, as well as inscriptions in enamehupon metal tablets, being enabled, by the substitution of printing and transferring for'the labor of painting directly pon the surface enamelled, to produce them in a very rapidmanner, and at much less cost than has been heretofore done.

I claim, as my invention v 1. The method of producing ornamental designs and inscriptions-in enamel upon metal tablets, by the use of stencils, substantially as set forth. a

In witness whereof, I haveihereunto signed my name, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

vBENJULMIN BAUGH.

Witnesses:

KATE N. Jones, J FRASER. 

